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In Remembrance: William Hootkins
Born July 5, 1948 in Dallas Texas, Hootkins made his acting debut in a school production that featured fellow student and future film star Tommy Lee Jones. Attending Princeton University, Hootkins initially studied astrophysics and Chinese linguistics before becoming involved with the university’s Theatre Intime group. After graduation, he moved to Great Britain to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts on the advice of his friend, actor John Lithgow. In 1977, Hootkins landed one of his first screen roles, that of Rebel fighter pilot Jek Porkins, in director George Lucas’ initial Star Wars film. Although he received only a few minutes worth of screen time, the character made an impression with fans, though Hootkins didn’t realize that initially. “I still didn't realize what power would come from that job until a year later I received my first fan letter,” he recalled for a July 2003 interview with Whatsonstage.com. “In it was a drawing of my scene by a little boy, and it was actually a clearer and more understandable version of the scene than George Lucas'! He asked if he could have an autographed photo. When I checked the return address, it was the leukemia ward of a children's hospital. It's a blessing to me that I have any power to make even the tiniest difference in other people's lives.” Hootkins would feature in another Lucas production, 1981’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), the first film in the Indiana Jones series starring Harrison Ford, playing one of two shadowy government functionaries who enlist the swashbuckling archaeologist to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant before Adolph Hitler’s agents do. Once the Ark is turned over to the government it is Hootkins’ character who ominously informs Indy that it will be studied by “top men.” In 1989, Hootkins memorably portrayed the slovenly Lt. Eckhardt, a Gotham City cop on the take from the local crime mobs in Tim Burton’s Batman. Hootkins essayed a variety of supporting roles throughout the 80s and 90s, appearing in such films as Flash Gordon (1980), Trail Of The Pink Panther (1982), Curse Of The Pink Panther (1983), White Nights (1985), Haunted Honeymoon (1986), The Pope Must Die (1991), A River Runs Through It (1992) and The Island Of Dr. Moreau (1996). Hootkins also appeared in numerous British stage productions including Dreams in an Empty City and What a Way to Run a Revolution in the West End; Orpheus Descending at the Donmar Warehouse; The Dentist, The Watergate Tapes and Terry Johnson’s Insignificance at the Royal Court. In 2003 he received critical raves for portraying British film director Alfred Hitchcock in the London stage production Hitchcock Blonde. His final film appearance is in Colour Me Kubrick, which is set to be released next year. |
William Hootkins, the stout character actor who appeared in the
initial installments of a hat-trick of genre movie series- Star
Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman- has passed away on
October 23, 2005 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 58.